Thomas Jefferson Foundation

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation was incorporated in 1923. In this year, the Foundation purchased Monticello and strove to restore and preserve the historic home. Now known as the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the group operates the house, the gardens, the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, a museum shop, the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, and the Monticello Visitors Center. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that emphasizes preservation and education.

Monticello is the only house in America mentioned on the World Heritage List of the United Nations . An example of Roman Neoclassicism, it contains 43 rooms, 13 skylights, and 8 fireplaces. Construction began in 1769, and was completed in 1784. In 1796, construction began on Thomas Jefferson 's design for enlarging the house. This contruction ended in 1809. Influenced by French architecture, Jefferson added the famous dome to Monticello in 1800. The estate sits on 5,000 acres in Charlottesville, Virginia .

Due to financial distress, Thomas Jefferson's son sold Monticello to James T. Barclay in 1831. After an unsuccessful attempt to raise silkworms, Barclay sold the estate to Uriah P. Levy in 1834. The Confederacy seized the estate during the Civil War, and the Levy family recovered Monticello in 1879 after lengthy litigation. Jefferson Monroe Levy sold Monticello to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923.

From the guide to the Monticello Architectural Records, 1923 - 1976, (Special Collections Research Center)